Downtown

Downtown Cedar Rapids is full of life! This district features a variety of dining and shopping options, a vibrant arts and culture community, and exciting nightlife. The Economic Alliance works with area businesses and non-profits to support the creation of a beautiful, sustainable downtown area for all ages, so wet your whistle, fill your belly at one of the many unique, locally-owned restaurants, bars, and hot spots, and enjoy some entertainment in the greater Cedar Rapids community.

Vision Cedar Rapids

The Cedar Rapids community has seen an incredible amount of change over the past several years, due largely from the impact of the 2008 flood. The Economic Alliance is playing a part in assisting the City of Cedar Rapids with flood protection efforts through public policy advocacy and community outreach. As a staunch supporter and advocate for state and federal dollars, the EA has assisted the City of Cedar Rapids in securing $264 million over 20 years to build a flood protection system on both sides of the Cedar River.

This Vision Cedar Rapids plan provides a broad understanding of downtown’s purpose and helps to direct the energy and resources of future downtown development opportunities. As with the original plan, previous planning efforts and documents were critical to the development. There is no intent to reinvent the wheel, but rather to update already-dynamic plans to incorporate the latest circumstances and future opportunities.

With many of the initiatives realized and much of Downtown Cedar Rapids and surrounding districts transformed, we're at a turning point. The most recent update to the plan in 2017 launches an even bigger and brighter future thanks to some significant factors like:

Downtown Facade Improvement Program

The Downtown Façade Improvement Program (the Program) is intended to encourage property and business owners within the downtown to renovate their building fronts and other exteriors plainly visible to the public, in order to promote more renovations and high quality exterior improvements. Project costs are shared by the Downtown SSMID Commission and the City of Cedar Rapids.

The Program has once again been funded for 2018 and 2019 by the Downtown SSMID and the City of Cedar Rapids. To begin the application process, reach out to Downtown Executive Director Jesse Thoeming at jthoeming@cedarrapids.org for an initial consultation.

Between 2014 and 2017 the Downtown Facade Improvement Grant Matching Program made 14 awards totaling $100,000 in support of projects representing nearly $1.9 million in total façade improvements. These facade improvement projects were part of projects totaling over $52 million in capital improvements.

Recently completed projects include the Armstrong Centre, the Clock House building, the Gatto Building, Quarter Barrel Arcade & Brewery, Theatre Cedar Rapids, the Smulekoff's Building and Town Centre.